Is Mylar Archival for Storing Negs?

[gbenaim]

Hi all,

I've been storing my 810 negs in Mylar sleeves from Office Depot, was wondering if there could be any problems doing so. Thanks,

GB

 

[mono]

"Is Mylar Archival for Storing Negs?"

So they say!
I use it for years now.

 

[Monophoto]

Good question - you would have to test it for a couple of hundred years to know for sure.
\
But conventional wisdom is that mylar, acetate and polyethelene are OK, while PVC is not.

 

[gbenaim]

Louie, how can I tell for sure that it's not made of PVC? It's pretty thin material, and w some relief.

 

[pgomena]

We use mylar to encapsulate all kinds of valuable old documents here at the Oregon Historical Society. It's considered archival.

Peter Gomena

 

[Steve Smith]

Louie, how can I tell for sure that it's not made of PVC? It's pretty thin material, and w some relief.

Mylar is a Dupont trade name for a strong type of polyester.
To tell the difference between Mylar and PVC, try to tear it (you may need to start it with a cut). Mylar should tear apart fairly cleanly. PVC will stretch and deform before it tears whereas Mylar will not.

If you can push a finger into it and form a finger shaped protrusion in it, it is most likely PVC.

You could also do another test to check between Mylar and polycarbonate. If it is polycarbonate, creasing and folding it back on itself a few times will cause it to crack along the crease. Mylar is much more resistant to this.
I doubt that these sleeves are made from polycarbonate though.


Steve.

 

[robsoe]

GB,

I'm interested to try this mylar sleeves. What is the office depot item number?

 

[gbenaim]

I'm in Israel, so the numbers are different, but just look for document sleeves, I use the 'economy' translucent type.

 

[gbenaim]

A pack of 50 costs 2.5$, so it's a considerable savings, at least here, over 20-30$ for 100 of the printfile.